the plane is rolling away and i can still see you waving. you are so beautiful, do you know that? your hair is fluttering at the temples and i can see youre crying, but dont worry, baby, ill be home soon. i know how this looks, the way the door shutting me off is so final, but itll open again and youll be running down the airport terminal and ill be there to catch you.

count the days until i come home, ill be counting them with you.

love,me

+

dear charlie,

im home and the house is empty without you. it feels like the walls are exhaling in regret and its a bitter feeling to be surrounded by all this carbon dioxide. i walked into our room and looked at the bed that we bought together last june. all that space made me ache. so i went and grabbed boston and climbed on top of the covers with him. hes such a good dog, charlie, you were right. he just put his massive head on his paws and let me cry in his neck.

when i was wrung out, he just licked my cheek. i think he misses you too.

love, me

+

dear holly,

you were so scared to buy a rottie, i told you hes practically a kitten. im glad to know hes taking care of you. does he still sleep by your feet when youre at your pottery wheel? i think thats one of the things i miss most. waking up to the smell of coffee and finding you on the patio with your hands covered in clay and your hair illuminated with the dawn. were still in basic training, but i know there isnt much time to lose. were leaving soon. i would never say this out loud, but im scared, baby. say an extra prayer tonight.

there was a meteor shower just now, it reminded me of you.

love,me

+

dear charlie,

boston chased the neighbors dog down the street today. the dog is a menace to humanity but i wouldnt give him up for the world. hes my best friend nowadays and i think he considers himself man of the house. we sat on the back patio with a cup of tea and watched the stars fall down. i knew youd be able to explain it if you were here. or that youd quietly recite yeats into my neck because under that rock-skin you are the most beautiful soul ive ever met.

dont be scared, love, i prayed twice.

love,me

+

dear holly,

its hot here and theres so much dust, i cant breathe past all of it pooling in my lungs. im falling asleep to gunfire and your voice singing. i have to remember to concentrate on your sweet soprano or ill drown in the death. so i listen hard for it every night, your voice rising and falling amongst the cries of the men around me and it carries me through. i cant write often, but ill write as often as i can. take boston to the beach. hell love the waves. just keep him from the children.

i saw the sunrise this morning, i think i saw your face in it.

love, me

+

dear charlie,

these months are spreading me thin. i can feel my threads frayed where i stapled them in the corners, promising myself not to fall apart until i could hold you together. boston and i went to the beach like you suggested and youre right. he had an amazing time. he chased the waves, the birds, the lifeguard and the man selling hotdogs. we got kicked out but we both chalked it up to experience. i still watch the sunrise every morning and sing you a song. i know my voice cant carry that far, but i trust your heart to recognize it.

not too much longer, were waiting for you.

love,me

+

dear holly,

one more month and ill be home. i want a slice of pecan pie and a glass of coke, because that tastes like home. but more than that, i want to taste your lips and feel you in my arms so that i can know beyond a doubt that you are far away from this destruction. robert died today, a malfunction with one of the army vehicles. he was a good man, better than i could hope to be. i know its wrong to be grateful it wasnt me, but i am. and if sinning my soul black means i get to come home to you, then ill sing my way to hell.

you better make it three prayers tonight.

love,me

+

dear charlie,

one more week and youll be here. i baked you a pecan pie and then threw it out because we both know i cant bake worth shit. boston fished it out of the trash and even he wouldnt touch it. at least the monster has some level of taste. but i went to your favorite bakery and bought you one, its probably too early but seeing it in the fridge is concrete evidence that youll be home soon. i can feel it in my nerves, the time lessening singing along the edges of it, my very bones awakening in anticipation.

if going to hell means being grateful youll be back, im damned anyways.

love,me

+

dear holly,

i'm coming home. and i know i said i'd catch you, but if i trip running down the terminal, would you mind making sure i don't hit the floor?

{"i hold it up and show my buddieslike we aint scared and our boots aint muddy and they all laugh'cause she calls me 'honey,' but they take it hard'cause i dont read the good partsi fold it up an' put it in my shirtpick up my gun an' get back to workand it keeps me driving me onwaiting on letters from home"--john michael montgomery

i seriously gave a little 'hmm' of love and delight and happiness and 'daw' when i finished. this is so sweet! tears have come to my eyes, and that rarely happens. i'm listening to 'always with me' by yumi kimaura, and though it is in japanese, i guess it helped.

i loved it with all my being. i really did. i'd fav it a million times if possible.

ok... this thing is amazing... i reread it just to be sure it was as good as it was the first time or if that was just a trick... and it was... but now that my eyes aren't filled with tears i caught something... you said that the sun sets in the morning twice... i'm pretty sure that's a typo... sorry for pionting put flaws...regardless this is one of the best things i've ever read...

This is so adorable! I love it. (: All your writing is amazing, but I never seem to find the time to read it all-- but once I read one of your pieces, I remember why I should take the time to read them all anyways.

Haha, yeah. No, but seriosly, your work is amazing, so I think I'm gonna try and read a bunch of it. xD I liked this one especially, though, i don't really know why, but I just loved the whole feel of it, and the way everything fit together perfectly. (: I really wish I had the ability to write like you.

I'm totally speechless; I haden't had the time to read this one, but I'm glad I waited to do it justice... It's fantastic yet again!The way you describe there love, and how it keeps them together... just wow... ~

The first time I read this, somehow I skipped the line about Robert...I think unintentionally or subconsiously. I know a soldier named Robert...Rereading and seeing that suddenly felt like someone had just crushed my heart. Very powerful and it made me cry both in the good/happy and the sad way...Rob's not my soldier but seeing his name along with that line just hurt.

Nonono, it's so gorgeous and wonderful and heartbreaking and I really don't have any more words so sefgnrewtgh34sdf.Reminds moe of "Just a Dream" by Carrie Underwood, except that song is saaaaad. I hope Charlie and Holly get to see each other real soon.

OMG im like favoriting all of your stuff!! this one was amazing. it gave such a feel and beauty to it. i think im gonna show it to my english teacher. -ill give you credit-but i love this. very captivating

This is wonderful-it truly captures how someone with a lover in the army must feel, and how someone in the army must long for home.And whatever you say-you are extremly talented and I hope to oneday be somewhere near as good as you. You are truly phenomenal and I dont know how I ever lived without your poetry.